Tag Archives: Cleveland

Two years ago, we had an amazing, fun day at Lego KidsFest. Sweet Hippie Daughter spent the day in a fit of creative fever. Handsome Hippie Hubby and I may have built a new creation (or twelve) as well. That’s why I am thrilled to share that…

Award-winning LEGO KidsFest is coming back to Cleveland!

November 4-6 we will be heading back to the land of imagination, and I can’t even wait until J-Rex sees the giant LEGO brick pile. He’s going to lose his mind. It’s going to be awesome.

The very best part?

YOU GET TO GO, TOO!

Check out all the details below, including a chance to win FREE tickets! You’re going to want to get your tickets ASAP. Previous events have been known to sell out.

What can you expect at the event?

The award-winning LEGO KidsFest Ohio returns to Cleveland’s I-X Center from Nov. 4 – 6, 2016.
Those who attended the previous show can once again expect hands-on building, creative experiences and one-of-a-kind activities. Children of all ages and builders of all skills and levels are welcome.

LEGO KidsFest features dozens of new activities and popular favorites on the three-acre show floor.

New activities for this year’s visit include LEGO Mindstorms, LEGO Movie, LEGO Disney Princess, the Mixels, a LEGO Superheroes area and more.

Other events include:

* LEGO Model Museum: dozens of life-sized models made entirely from LEGO bricks
* Race Ramps: build a custom car, then race it down the ramp against friends and family
* LEGO Star Wars: build and display a Star Wars model
* Creation Nation: build your own creation to add to a custom map of the U.S.
* LEGO DUPLO: younger visitors can explore imagination through building
* LEGO Retail: purchase LEGO merchandise and official KidsFest tour goods
* Brick Pile: a gigantic pile full of LEGO bricks for creative play and enjoyment
* Monochromatic Builds: bricks of a single color to foster group creativity
* LEGO Friends: build for the five empowered friends from Heartlake City
* LEGO Ninjago: spin the way to being a Spinjitzu member
* LEGO Mindstorms: build and program robots and snakes
* LEGO Technic: get hands-on with the cool, realistic vehicles at the booth
* LEGO Disney Princess: create a princess scene to add to a LEGO story book

“We’re thrilled to be returning to the Cleveland area,” said Vince Rubino, Events Manager for LEGO Systems, Inc. “We’ve got a host of new activities as well as some areas we know are very popular with our fans. Not only will families create some new memories at the show, they’ll get another chance to flex and showcase their building skills. This event is a must for the true LEGO fan.”

Five sessions – all identical and 4 1/2 half hours in length – are held at each tour stop. LEGO KidsFest tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

Tickets are $19 for the Friday and Sunday afternoon sessions, and $22 for both sessions on Saturday and the Sunday morning session.

On tour since 2009, previous LEGO KidsFest tour stops have included major cities such as Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, San Jose, Cleveland, Richmond, Phoenix, Portland and more.

FUN FACTS

More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949.
The LEGO minifigure represents the world’s largest population of people! More than four billion minifigures have been produced in the last 30 years. This is almost 12 times the population of the United States!
LEGO minifigures are out of this world, literally. The two Mars Rovers have an image of the LEGO minifigure etched into their front grill.
Approximately seven LEGO sets are sold each second.
There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world’s six billion inhabitants.
Laid end to end, the number of LEGO bricks sold in a year would reach more than five times around the world.
There are 915 million ways to combine six eight-stud LEGO bricks.
Children around the world spend five billion hours a year playing with LEGO bricks.
With a production of about 306 million tires produced a year, the LEGO group is the largest producer of tires in the world.
LEGO is the contraction of two Danish words, “leg godt” which means “play well”.
More than 19 billion LEGO elements are produced every year. More than 2.16 million LEGO elements are molded every hour, or 36,000 per minute.
It took 50 hours and 68,000 LEGO bricks to make the storybook in the LEGO Disney Princess at the shows.
The largest LEGO Model ever built is the life sized X-Wing fighter. It took more than 17000 hours to build over 5m bricks and 46000 pounds.
By 2020, LEGO’s aim is to make sure that 100% of its energy will be balanced by renewable energy sources.

WIN TICKETS

Giveaway Details:

One of MY followers will win two tickets to the opening night session on Friday, Nov 4 2016 (4-8:30pm). I encourage you to LIKE and Follow LEGOKidsFest on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram for all the latest ticketing updates as this event has been selling out in prior cities. Must be 18 to enter, 1 entry per day allowed, random drawing by USFG!

Winner will be randomly chosen by USFG on and announced on my Blog and notified via email,

One of the greatest advantages of homeschooling, and one of the more compelling reasons we wanted to choose this path is the flexibility. Our work schedules don’t fit into the Monday-Friday 9-5 mold. Handsome Hippy Hubby is off on Monday and Tuesday and he works most holidays. I work Monday, Wednesday and Friday at my church job and the time leading up to holidays is often extra busy. As far as writing… that comes in the very early mornings, very late at night and all the spare quiet moments in between I can find.

With a schedule like ours, we often struggled to plan trips when Sweet Hippie Daughter was in public school. Either we would have to take time off from work, which we really can’t afford to do too often, or she would have to miss school.

Homeschool = problem solved. We just take our school on the road when the opportunity presents itself.

Most recently, we headed off to Cleveland to visit the grandparents and do a review for US Family Guide. That gave us about 2 1/2 hours in each direction for reading and discussion, which was lovely and passed so quickly I almost wished it was a longer drive. When we got there grandpa talked a lot about aliens – it’s one of his favorite subjects – and Sweet Hippie Daughter had some really interesting input based on an article she’d read in last month’s National Geographic Magazine about black holes. When she mentioned “the intense gravity in the singularity at the center of a black hole,” I felt like, just maybe, we were doing this thing right!

The Science Center isn’t a huge place, but there are fabulous things to explore and teach and provoke new thoughts around every corner. There are several animal displays and aquariums inside the building including turtles, snakes, lizards, fish and more. There is a gorgeous “tide pool” that drains and fills again, just like the ocean waves are washing over it. Sweet Hippie Daughter and Grandma must have spent 20 minutes sitting on the edge of it trying to find all of the wild-looking ocean critters that lived in there.

While they were busy with that, Toddler-saurus Rex enjoyed looking at the fish tanks and playing with giant floor puzzles and coloring sheets that were laid out for younger children.

We got to meet a turkey vulture that was at the center recovering from a gunshot wound. The animals there are all being rehabilitated to be released back into the wild or they are being cared for there because they are, for one reason or another, unable to survive on their own in the wild.

Sweet Hippie Daughter spent a few minutes checking out the gigantic globe of Mars. She has said before that she wants to be in the first manned mission to Mars. If that actually happens I will be unbearably proud and totally, completely terrified. I will also, with no reservation, release this picture to the media and giggle every time I see it on TV.

Since it was the first warm sunny day since we’ve had since Adam and Eve got kicked out of Eden (OK, not really, but, at a balmy 45 degrees and sunny, it sure felt like it!) we couldn’t resist visiting the outdoor exhibits, too. We got to see different species of owls, hawks, eagles, ducks and other birds as well as rabbits, the cutest racoon in the universe (because he wasn’t strewing garbage on my lawn or eating my cookies at a campsite), a fox, a woodchuck and a mink. The girl had a whole conversation with this deer who, I swear, understood every word she was saying.

While she was bonding with Bambi T-Rex and Grandpa rested their feet on the little deck overlooking the duck pond.

I found inspiration for a spring-time upcycling project in this butterfly house.

And then we had to take a few moments to investigate the massive hollow log in the center’s entryway.

We had so much fun and we learned all manner of things about earth, space and the creatures we share our space with. We got to play and laugh and stretch our legs and feel the sun on our faces. I can’t think of many better ways to spend a day!

If you want to visit or find out more about the parts of the center/park we didn’t get to see (including a planetarium), visit their website for all the details.

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

***This is a sponsored post. I have received free tickets for review purposes. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.***

We’re going to see Disney Live! The whole family is looking forward to Mickey’s Music Festival at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on March 9th.

Mickey Mouse and friends rock the world with the stars from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story in Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival. Disney hits are remixed to the hottest sounds of today featuring hip hop, pop, swing, reggae, rock, country and much more! The irresistible lineup of performers, including Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy; Ariel, Sebastian and Ursula; Jasmine, Aladdin and Genie; and Woody, Buzz and Jessie; are among the more than 25 Disney stars featured in this jam session fit for the entire family! You can’t resist dancing, singing, playing your air-guitar and laughing with this band of characters! Come join them at Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival for a lively concert experience guaranteed to deliver enough rockin’ memories to last a lifetime.

Last night we had the chance, thanks to US Family Guide, to attend Disney On Ice – “Let’s Celebrate” at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH.

We careened through the streets of downtown cleveland with approximately 752 million other people headed out for Friday night revelry, found a parking place and headed into the arena where we ran a gauntlet of merchandise the likes of which is truly incomprehensible to those who have never experienced a Disney event. Buzzing, whirring, light-up, whistling, singing, glow-in-the-dark, candy-coated characters were literally surrounding us on every side.

Excited to be at the show!

I would strongly suggest setting very clear limits with your children about what you are and are not going to purchase when you go to this show because everything they never knew they ever wanted will be fantastically displayed at eye level for them once you arrive, during the intermission and as you leave and the prices make airport gift stores look like the Bargain Clearance Barn.

We survived all that and found our seats and had fun watching some pre-show entertainment. Then the lights dimmed and the show started and it was beyond our greatest expectations.

This show was truly everything great about Disney!

“I see them! I see them! There they are!”

It was colorful and creative, musical, funny, charming and silly. It was fast-paced enough to keep Toddler-saurus Rex utterly entranced for every minute of the two hours we were there and it was dazzling enough to enchant Sweet Hippie Daughter with all her 9-year-old “I’m too old for princesses” cynicism.

Very nearly every Disney character you could imagine made an appearance. T-Rex loved Mickey and the gang. SHD was delighted by Lilo and Stitch. She especially thought David’s fire-twirling was great. Handsome Hippie Hubby liked Jack Skellington’s Halloween party and I thought Mulan’s scene had some super surprises.

Speaking of surprises…. I don’t want to give anything away, but the finale was definitely a worthy end to a fun and festive show.

Our family had a wonderful time! We all agreed that the show would be a blast for anyone, of any age.

Whew! That was fun! (And exhausting)

When this spectacular show visits your hometown you can save 25% off tickets by using code: FAM25.

*My family received free tickets to this show so that we could share our experience with you. All of the opinions expressed are 100% honest and my own.

Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?

I’m super excited to be able to share this deal with you! If you use the offer code, below, you can get 25% off tickets to see Disney on Ice in Cleveland, OH. Maybe I’l see you there. I’ll be the Hippie Mama with the kids who are so excited their heads are about to explode.

Quicken Loans Arena, Jan. 10-20th

It’s one colossal party on ice, with all your favorite Disney friends! Join Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse as they celebrate a Very Merry Unbirthday Party with Alice and the Mad Hatter; Mardi Gras with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen; a Royal Valentine’s Day Ball with the Disney Princesses; a Hawaiian luau with Lilo & Stitch; a winter wonderland with Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear; a Halloween haunt with the Disney Villains and more in a magical medley of holidays, celebrations and festivals from around the globe. A Come join the party when this spectacular ice show visits your hometown!